Swimming

If current and former Cal athletes formed their own country, they’d have ranked sixth in gold medals won at the Olympics through action on Saturday.

Cal had seven golds at the halfway point of the London Games, and freestyle sprinter Nathan Adrian owns two of them — in the 100 free and as the anchor to the 400 medley relay.

“Cal has a great tradition at the Olympics,” Adrian said on NBC Sunday morning. “We usually take home a good medal count and I’m glad to add to it.

On Saturday night, Adrian took the relay ”baton” from Michael Phelps, helping Phelps win his 18th all-time gold medal, his 22nd overall. Adrian’s reaction time off the blocks was a bit slow, he said, “making sure I was not going to mess up that last gold.”

Afterward, Adrian said Phelps was fighting the emotion of the moment on the pool deck.

“It’s incredibly special,” Adrian said. “It takes such a crazy talent to do what he did and he did it.”

Phelps may be done with the sport, but Adrian plans to take a couple weeks off, then get right back in the water. Rio de Janeiro in 2016 will come quickly.

“Winning gold is incredible, but it kind of ignites that passion to do it again,” Adrian said.

This is the way the modern Olympics work. Athlete does something astounding. Athlete gets gold medal. Athletes become engulfed in whispers of alleged doping.

And that’s the current situation of Chinese swimming phenom Ye Shiwen, who has rocketed from obscurity to becoming the fastest woman in the water. Heck, maybe fastest person, period. Continue Reading →

Natalie Coughlin, appearing on the Today show in London on Monday morning, said she still could wind up swimming for a record 13th Olympic medal in Saturday’s 400 medley relay, but isn’t campaigning for it.

“I could . . . there’s a lot of factors that play into that,” she told host Matt Lauer. “We have a lot of options for the medley relay. I’m not trying to force myself onto the relay.”

Currently, Coughlin is not scheduled to compete in the medley relay. The decision will be made by U.S. coach Teri McKeever — who also is the coach at Cal and Coughlin’s personal coach — and her staff.

But it was McKeever and the U.S. assistants who made the difficult decision not to use Coughlin in the free relay final, despite the fact she swam well in the prelims.

Coughlin, the 29-year-old East Bay resident and Cal grad, has won 12 Olympics medals, tying Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres for most by an American woman. She collected No. 12 — a bronze in the 400 freestyle relay — without appearing in the final or on the medal stand.

“This is the first time I haven’t been on the medal podium myself. It’s a little strange,” she said.

Coughlin, who suggested last week she is open to returning to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, stopped short of saying that’s a done deal.

“My thoughts change on a daily basis,” she said. “I’m going to continue to train and be fit. If I’m healthy enough to go for it, why not? My thoughts go back and forth on that.”

The East Bay great swam so well in Saturday’s 4×100-meter freestyle relay prelims that her old Cal coach, U.S. coach Teri McKeever, may give her a spot in Saturday night’s final.

Coughlin, 29, powered the Americans into first place on the third leg by swimming it in an impressive 53.93 seconds. She took off in third place but had the lead by the first 50 meters.

Her leg was the fastest of the four U.S. relay swimmers and should earn her a place in the night final where Coughlin will go for an historic 12th medal. Even if she doesn’t swim she would earn the medal that would tie her with Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres as the most decorated U.S. female Olympians in history.

Coughlin sounded like a woman ready for another round, saying she needed to get back into the pool for a warm down while briefly talking to reporters

The Americans won their heat in 3:36.53, but will face stiff competition from Heat 2 winner Australia and the Netherlands.

LONDON — Cal graduate Milorad Cavic has been Serbia’s sportsman of the year three times.

But Americans remeber him as that guy who almost spoiled Michael Phelps record eight gold medal haul in Beijing.

Cavic lost to Phelps by one hundredth of a second in the men’s 100-meter butterfly in a memorable race four years ago.

The four-time Olympian who grew up in Tustin has a different take on that race.

“I saw myself as someone who had not achieved something before the last Olympic Games and there I was,” he said. “I won an Olympic medal, which for every swimmer is the ultimate dream. I can say with complete honesty that I slept very well after the last Olympic Games. It didn’t bother me as much as it seemed to bother so many people.”

LONDON – Stanford’s loss could be Cal’s gain in the recruiting war for burgeoning swim star Missy Franklin.

Franklin, 17, told reporters Thursday that she has scheduled recruiting visits to Cal, USC and Georgia – but not Stanford.

After competing at Stanford at the summer national championships last August Franklin had mentioned the idyllic campus as a possible college of choice. But now she said she lost interest because coach Lea Maurer resigned to commit more time to family.

Franklin, a Colorado schoolgirl, is scheduled to become the first American female to swim seven events at a single Olympics. She will start her ambitious schedule Saturday in the 4X100 relay that also includes former Cal great Natalie Coughlin.

Cal and Georgia have been targeted by Franklin for a while. Depending how it goes in London the Bears might have an advantage with Cal’s Teri McKeever coaching the women’s Olympic team.